The is an
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
containing a group of a twenty tombs located in the
Haramachi area of the city of
Minamisōma, in
Fukushima Prefecture
Fukushima Prefecture (; ja, 福島県, Fukushima-ken, ) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Fukushima Prefecture has a population of 1,810,286 () and has a geographic area of . Fukushima Prefecture borders Miya ...
in the southern
Tōhoku region
The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata.
Tōhoku retains a ...
of northern
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. The largest of these tombs has been protected by the central government as a
National Historic Site since December 23, 1974.
Overview
The tombs are located on a hillside north of the Ota River, and were discovered by chance during the construction of a modern housing district in 1973. The largest of the tombs has a length of 8.3 meters, with a three-meter vestibule, in a rectangular layout, with a 3 by 2.8 meter opening. On the far wall, the tomb is decorated with designs in red
iron oxide
Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...
, depicting people, a horse, a sawtooth-like geometric design, red deer and spirals connected by red and white lines. The back wall and ceiling are also decorated with more than 250 red and white spots. The presence of these decorations makes the tomb the northernmost decorated kofun discovered so far. Relics found within the tomb include bronze and gilt sword fittings, knives, glass and bronze beads, horse fittings and
Sue ware
was a blue-gray form of stoneware pottery fired at high temperature, which was produced in Japan and southern Korea during the Kofun, Nara, and Heian periods of Japanese history. It was initially used for funerary and ritual objects, and origin ...
pottery. From these
grave goods it is estimated that the tomb dates from sometime in the 6th century AD.
The tomb was formerly open to the public four times per year; however, it has been closed since the
2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake. Full-scale replicas and excavated artifacts are on display at the Minamisōma City Museum. The site is approximately 45 minutes on foot from
Haranomachi Station on the
JR East
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and is the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are ...
Joban Line.
See also
*
List of Historic Sites of Japan (Fukushima)
This list is of the Historic Sites of Japan located within the Prefecture of Fukushima.
National Historic Sites
As of 17 December 2021, fifty-four Sites have been designated as being of national significance.
...
References
External links
Minamisōma home page{{in lang, ja
Kofun
Minamisōma
Historic Sites of Japan
History of Fukushima Prefecture
Corridor-type kofun